Drift with Me
by Kairen-Cirrus
Summary: When Hanji enrolls in the Jaeger Academy in 2015, she doesn't expect to graduate as a Kaiju Science Officer instead of a Ranger. Talent meant little if you couldn't prove yourself drift compatible with anyone. But her chance to be a Jaeger pilot comes in the form of a short, sullen trainee with a funny name and an unexpected compatibility.
1. Chapter 1

When Hanji Zoe first enrolls into the Jaeger Academy in 2015, she's one of the few to show up without a potential drift partner already in hand. She's also just about one of the only ones who finds the kaiju more fascinating than grotesque. In the midst of physical training and grueling exercises, her mind simultaneously conjures various hypotheses about where the kaiju come from in addition to the moves required to achieve victory against her sparring opponent. Her classmates can't keep up with her, not in kaiju interest, not in physical prowess.

She's talented. But she's not drift compatible.

Rejected and eliminated from the roster of potential Jaeger pilots by her instructors, she is branded a "Kaiju groupie" by her classmates. She is given two options by the academy: Go back home, or agree to serve the Pan Pacific Defense Corps in whatever capacity they deem her fit.

She's sitting at a bar with the letter in hand, mulling over her options with the help of a Bloody Mary. Whatever capacity they deem her fit? What did that mean? Doing standard maintenance on Jaegers, cleaning up after the hothead pilots, and not being allowed anywhere near a kaiju? But if she went back, then she'd be the furthest she could be from the giant monsters. And she wasn't content to sit on a couch and watch them from behind a screen. That was the whole reason she came out here, wasn't it?

A man slides onto the stool next to her, holding up the exact same letter. The difference between them is that he's grinning as if he's just won the lottery.

"Not drift compatible, right?" He offers, as if this is a proper way to start a conversation.

Hanji rolls her eyes. She has long ago lost her patience for the throng of macho ranger trainees who thought that "drift compatibility" made for the best pick-up line. She's about to open her mouth to thwart whatever suggestions he might propose about their discovering about their aforementioned compatibility together, but he turns away from her, ordering a beer for himself.

"Me neither. But you know what, that's great!"

Maybe he was already drunk, or maybe he spoke some strange language in which "great" and "horrible" were synonymous. Either way, it triggered at least a small modicum of curiosity in Hanji's expression, which gave the bespectacled man the only impetus he needed to keep going.

"I'm Newton Geiszler. My friends call me Newt." He held out a hand for her to shake. Tentatively, she took it, still eyeing him carefully. "I hear they call you a Kaiju groupie."

Well, this was new. Was he going to try a pick-up line that was Kaiju-centric? She'd have to give him points for being avant-garde about his approach. Though that still didn't change the fact that she wasn't interested.

"Look, Newt…"

"I have this idea for a milking machine."

…maybe _too_ avant-garde.

"See, I was thinking, that we could essentially milk the chemicals from the glands of the Kaiju to learn more about them. Not every Kaiju that's appeared has been the same, and I thought this way, we could, you know! Categorize them."

"…can you do that?" She wasn't sure where the conversation was going, but it was certainly loads more interesting than what she had originally assumed.

"I mean, our blood contains our DNA, which is essentially all the information you could know about us to categorize us in different ways. Male, female, gay… Kaiju blue is just Kaiju blood. There's got to be some information in there that we could use."

"But it's—"

"Highly toxic, I know, but it's not acidic, which means we can at least examine it in laboratory conditions given enough precautions."

"Does the Defense Corps even bother with Kaiju research?"

"Not to any serious degree yet."

"…"

"…But they're gonna." Newt's eyes were shining. By now, so were Hanji's.

When the two of them graduate from the Jaeger Academy in 2016, they don badges marking them as Kaiju science officers for the PPDC, and they feel every bit as proud as the newly christened Jaeger pilots taking to the Shatterdomes. It wasn't what Hanji had planned originally, but this way she still had a chance to get up close and personal with the kaiju.

* * *

In early 2018, she's assigned to return to the Academy to assist with Drift Sync Testing. The Kaiju research department was losing funding every year due to the lack of progress, and many of the researchers were either being let go or reassigned. Newt's "milking machine" was an initial stroke of brilliance. Being able to categorize the Kaiju was an added advantage that benefited the Jaegers. Everything they had learned from that point onward, however, had not been. It was lucky for Zoe that she had been a talented student back in her training years such that she wouldn't be let go completely. She could trust that Newt could continue the research on his own, and she made him promise to text her details whenever he could spare them.

As far as training new recruits went, Zoe would have much preferred to be assigned combat training. But it had been a couple of years since she had been on the mat, and her skills were going to be more rusty than the other seasoned instructors. Combined with the fact that her mental control had always been top notch, it was only natural that she would be assigned to Drift Sync Testing.

As a commanding officer, she brought nothing into the drift. Only thoughts of the academy, her knowledge of Kaiju, and the duties of a ranger. Occasionally, there would maybe be one too many thoughts about Kaiju, but it usually went unnoticed by the student, who was being tested on how well they could master their own minds. The drifts were rather one-sided, as a result. She got almost everything about them, while they got very little about her. The faster they got their minds under control, the less she would have to deal with flashing images and thoughts of their entire life story. Most of them were uninteresting anyway.

One particular evening, she felt a pang of nostalgia for the first research room she and Newt had set up at the Academy to hypothesize and debunk their theories. After lights out, she wandered over to the room on the third floor to see it again. It was in disuse, an impromptu classroom now, all of their former equipment gone. But she could still see where they used to keep the microscopes, the familiar smell of dry-erase markers filling the air as she scribbled down theories.

She was standing by the whiteboard holding a marker when he entered: a young trainee with half-shaved black hair, a short stature, and a bleeding cut on his lip.

For several moments, they stared at each other, blinking and not speaking. She was surprised to see a student wandering about after hours, and he was slowly registering that this wasn't the Sick Bay.

"Shouldn't—"

"Where—"

They started to speak at the same time, then both clammed up after their first word.

Hanji could have kicked herself in the head. _She_ was the authority figure here!

"Lights out was half an hour ago, soldier." The words sound strange as they escape her lips. She hates the conversation she has to use as a commanding officer. Ranks meant nothing to her, but she still had to adhere by them.

"Sorry, I was looking for the bathroom."

It was such a sad attempt at a lie that she wasn't sure what to make of it at first. They were in the classroom building, away from the barracks, which of course, came equipped with toilet facilities. She looks again at the cut on his lip, now noting that there are a few other bruises on his face in addition.

"You're looking for the Sick Bay."

"…" He gives no answer, just a sullen stare.

Sighing through her nose, Hanji lets out a defeated whine before putting a hand to her head. She was horrible at maintaining these hierarchical boundaries.

"What's your name?"

"Rivaille."

"Levi?"

"Rivaille."

"Well, I'm going to call you Levi."

A brow twitched in annoyance. Hanji ignored it, approaching him and reaching out with her hand to examine his face. These were some nasty marks, but looking down, she could see by the injuries on his hands that he had done just about as much damage, if not more, in return.

"Get into a fight with your co-pilot?"

"I don't have a co-pilot," came the quiet reply, as he turned his face away from hers.

Putting her hands on her hips, Hanji gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Not many who came without potential co-pilots already made it through into a Jaeger. She had been one such example.

"Well the Med Bay is unstaffed right now, but I can take care of you well enough, I think."

She led him down the hall and up another flight of stairs to get to the Med Bay, sitting him down on a stool before digging through the drawers and pantries to find disinfectant and some swabs. He was looking at her curiously. She didn't seem at all like a student, but that was nothing compared to how unlike a commanding officer she was.

"Who are you?" He finally broke the silence as she returned to him, her hands holding a few cotton swabs, a bottle of disinfectant, and a few band-aids.

"Zoe Hanji, former Kaiju science officer, currently assigned here to help potential pilots with drift sync testing."

"…you're an instructor." His tone was even but his eyes were slightly wider, giving away the faintest hint of surprise at the revelation.

"More or less. And you're a potential ranger."

He turned his face away from that comment. It was clear he didn't think much of his own chances.

"Don't be discouraged. The very first successful Jaeger pilots were friends turned lovers, not siblings. You don't have to worry that you're not here with a relative to train with you."

"What exactly does science officer mean?" He opted to change the subject, even if he was mildly grateful for her support.

"I used to do Kaiju research. Pick apart their remains, examine their DNA, tissue, that sort of thing."

"…used to?"

She dabbed an alcohol-soaked cotton swab at his lip, making him hiss at the sting, but he didn't pull away.

"They started downsizing our research. Turns out they care less about learning more about our visitors than punching them in the face with various Jaegers. But that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, I guess."

"I didn't think we did Kaiju research at all." Came the overly blunt reply.

She let her hand slip, pressing the alcohol a little bit more forcefully into the open wound than was absolutely necessary. That made him pull away some. She then dabbed a fresh swab into some more alcohol and took one of his hands, resuming the gentle administrations at the open skin on his knuckles.

"So what made you want to be a Jaeger pilot, little Levi?" His perpetual frown grew deeper at the chosen adjective. "Fame? Revenge?"

He turned his face away, frowning and not wanting to answer. But she'd seen that look before too.

"Better than a life on the streets waiting for the Kaiju to come at you first?"

A faint blush crept to his ears, his hand twitching in hers as she finished cleaning them. To the poor and disenfranchised peoples anywhere, not just in the Pacific, the Jaeger program was a godsend. Richer families could afford to move further inland, giving them the illusion of safety from the Kaiju, but that was a luxury most people couldn't afford. The Jaegers kept humanity safe, rich and poor alike, and you didn't have to be educated in expensive schools to learn how to pilot one and return the favor.

She finished wrapping up his hands in a light gauze tape before moving to put back the supplies she had found. Levi watched her with mild fascination, still finding it incredible that she could be an instructor. She didn't seem all that much older than he was, either.

"Miss Hanji," he started.

"Hm?"

"…thank you."

She watched him leave and wondered to herself when she would see him in Drift Sync Testing. He hadn't said much, but almost everything about him screamed that he wanted to be a Jaeger Pilot more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. There was a sort of quiet desperation, an urge to prove something to himself. She could feel it because she had been the same. She thought it would be interesting to drift with him, see what made him tick.

* * *

**A/N**: a crossover I've been wanting to write for a while now, even drew a fanart to go with it. Reviews are always appreciated~


	2. Chapter 2

"Time, one minute and fifteen seconds." A voice called out as Hanji removed the Pons headset. The young trainee beside her did the same, his head swimming and his eyes struggling to focus.

He had nearly begun chasing the RABIT there, though he finally managed to get his head under some control after Hanji gave him a mental kick in the right direction. Still, taking over a minute to establish a neural bridge wasn't good time at all. First time drifters were encouraged to take less than a minute to get their minds under control. Most Jaeger pilots did it under thirty seconds.

"Take a rest." She said to the young man beside her as she stood up, stretching her back and walking over to the control board where Captain Irvin Smith was standing watch.

With a sigh, she leaned against the controls, looking bored and peeking down at the list of students who had to go through drift sync testing today. Her mouth fell slightly at the names. Irvin saw her faltering expression and commented,

"Not feeling up to testing the rest of the students today, Hanji?"

"…no, it's not that."

"What is it then?"

"I'm looking for a particular student. His name is Levi… no… Ravioli, something or other."

"Rivaille?"

"That's the one!"

Irvin raised a questioning eyebrow before Hanji continued.

"I met him a few nights ago. What's his last name anyway?"

"He doesn't have one. Came to us as a street rat. But he's a talented soldier."

"What training division is he in?"

"Hanji. You can't show favoritism among the recruits."

"You know what, Irvin? You're right. I'm not feeling up to drift sync testing the rest of the list today. I need to go clear my head on the mat. Which Kwoon rooms are being used right now?"

Sighing, Irvin dismissed her. There wasn't a whole lot she could do while they were in combat training, and he knew better than to get in her way when she wanted something.

"Combat rooms 1 and 3 are in use right now."

"Thanks, Irvin."

She took off to peer into Combat room 3, failed to see Levi, went to Combat room 1, failed to see him again, then decided to double check room 3. Sure enough, she found him hiding in the back of the room, arms crossed, hidden from her initial view because of his height compared to the other ranger trainees. She walked into the room, standing at attention behind Marshall Pentecost. Her eyes were focused on the mat, but she could feel that Levi had noticed her entrance.

He had thought his chances of seeing the strange instructor again low. She had mentioned that her primary focus was Drift Sync Testing, and they weren't going to let him anywhere near a Pons headset until he could prove some small modicum of compatibility with another student. This was something he had failed to do utterly since his arrival. Had she come to check in on him? See his aptitude? A part of him was annoyed, he was sure she was pitying him after guessing at his life story. She'd probably looked into his personnel files by now. He didn't want to be babied into a drift testing room, led there by the hand by some doting commanding officer that thought that he just needed a chance to prove himself. He could get there bloody well on his own. He didn't need favors.

Stepping up to the mat, he looked at Marshall Pentecost, silently requesting permission to be next. Hanji's eyes meet his and in them he sees none of the things he expected. There's no pity there, just interest. She was just… curious.

His sparring partner is a hulking young man, all brawn, no brains. He looks down at Levi as if he's about to crush a bug. He brings no respect to the mat. So Levi determines he will give him none in return.

He strikes hard from underneath, using his speed and size to his advantage, ducking behind him and hooking his staff under the giant's ankles to knock him onto his back. 1-0. The giant lunges at him and Levi parries three blows before ducking under his legs, twisting about and stopping his staff just at the man's jaw. 2-0.

Hanji watches without a word, studying Levi's motions, his fighting style. It's 4-0 and Marshall Pentecost calls the match done, next group up. The two bow to their commanding officers as they leave the mat, and Levi looked at her, expecting to see surprise, maybe even praise in her eyes. He receives only an unimpressed, slightly disappointed look. He's not sure what to make of that.

She comes to see him in training a few more times after that. Always he tries a little bit harder when she's around, his opponents were absolutely no match for him when she was in the room. But he never got what he wanted from her when he looked up at her. She was never impressed, never surprised. He knew she came to see him, but she had yet to pull him aside or initiate any verbal contact.

Her presence at his training started to unnerve him. She was just a solitary figure, there to exert more pressure on him than Marshall Pentecost ever made him feel. And one day, when he finished his match, bowed and looked up, she was already gone. She had left before his match had even finished. His heart sank. She had given up on him.

But as his class filed out of the combat room, he was pulled aside by an arm on his shoulder as he trailed out of the door, and he looked up to see her again.

"You're good, I'll admit. But it's not all about that."

He pulled his arm free from her grip. Weeks she had been observing him, and only now did she take the time to give him a touch of friendly advice?

"Why are you watching me?"

"Find me tonight. I'll be waiting in the Shatterdome."

And without another word, she turned on her heel and left, leaving Levi speechless and looking after her with immense irritation.

That night, as he walked towards the Shatterdome, he wasn't sure why he was bothering. He had told himself that he didn't need any favors; that if she was looking to specially place him in a Jaeger, he would refuse. But the more he thought about it, the more he hated to admit that he was starting to take interest in her too. For some reason, he found himself striving for her approval, something he hadn't ever wished from any of his instructors prior. His own abnormal behavior was enough to keep him interested and enough to keep him going at the pace she set.

He found her waiting for him by the gate to the Shatterdome, her arms crossed and her glasses gleaming.

When she saw him, she grinned and immediately opened the iron doors to the Shatterdome with her identification clearance. Levi had never been in there before, and she probably knew that. As the doors slowly creaked open, his eyes began to show the most expression she had ever seen on his face. They were wide with admiration and awe at the towering Jaegers before him, gleaming monsters made by steel, by man.

She grinned at the wonder in his eyes before pulling him along to the newest Jaeger in the shatterdome, yet unnamed. They stood at its feet; necks craning to see its head, the lights shining above it like a halo around its iron head.

"What's this one called?" Levi broke the silence first.

"She doesn't have a name yet. Sometimes, they let the pilots name them."

Shadowed by the towering machine, Levi remembered why he had originally joined the Jaeger program. It wasn't to impress anyone, not himself, not his instructors. It was so that he could take his place in the cockpit of a Jaeger, take the fight to the Kaiju, and save innocent lives with the strength he knew he had.

"I can see it in your eyes." Hanji remarked.

He looked at her, meeting her gleaming brown orbs with his own. "See what?"

"How badly you want to suit up and take her for a ride."

He broke their gaze and looked back at the Jaeger. That much was obvious. Wouldn't anyone?

"But you're going about it all wrong."

His brow twitched in irritation. He was getting really fed up with her smug, know-it-all attitude. She could just say outright what she wanted him to know.

"You act like you deserve to be up there. You're the most physically skilled fighter among your classmates, you know you're the best, so you think it's your right to be a pilot."

"Isn't it?"

"It's not about you_. You_ don't deserve her_, she_ deserves a good team. Look at her. Really look. The raw power of the Jaegers requires _two_ pilots. You're so focused on yourself, you imagine yourself in that conn pod alone. And if you think you can handle this by yourself, you don't respect her."

Levi looked from the Jaeger to Hanji and found he couldn't meet her eyes. But he couldn't look at the Jaeger either, so he averted his gaze to the ground. He had come from nothing to the place where rock stars saved the world in giant mechas, but it had taken him until this moment to feel humbled by his surroundings.

"It's about compatibility. Trust. You're not alone up there."

Levi's hands gripped into fists. Alone is what he had felt all his life. But Hanji was only telling him the bitter truth. In order to be a ranger, he had to put away his pride. He needed to be able to reconnect with a human being. Piloting a Jaeger wasn't a one-man show.

Zoe turned on her heel to leave the shatterdome. She had said her piece so that he didn't make the same mistakes she had. She never once regretted becoming a Kaiju science officer, it was one of the best opportunities that could have fallen into her lap. Her work had brought immense satisfaction, and the thrill of learning more about the kaiju had consumed her for nearly two years until they had taken that away. She found them fascinating creatures, truly. But in the end, her work was done for the sake of humanity, and when she walked through the Shatterdome, she had that familiar itch to want to be a ranger again. What would it be like to greet a Kaiju face to face, knock it flying as a greeting, _then_ drag it back to base herself to dissect it? It was her dream to see a live Kaiju in person.

Just before she walked out of earshot, she turned back to Levi.

"Find yourself a co-pilot. I expect to see your name in Drift Sync Testing."

* * *

Irvin was the one to speak up first.

"You've been helping him."

"Hm? Who?"

They were in the mess hall, in a corner reserved for instructors and commanding officers. Irvin took his seat beside her.

"Rivaille."

"Ah, him."

"He's scoring higher on his aptitude tests, and he's reportedly making more of an effort to get along with his classmates. If he can find someone drift compatible, he'll be piloting a Jaeger by the end of the year."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"I told you not to play favorites."

"All I did was give him a verbal beating. It's not as if we've been having secret, late-night training sessions. He's got potential, you know he does."

"Zoe."

He was making her look at him now.

"That only makes it more difficult when we have to send him away."

Her fork clattered down onto her plate, unnoticed in the din of the mess hall.

"…away?"

"Even with his efforts, if we can't find someone drift compatible, that's the end of it."

"There has to be someone." She stood up, her expression unwavering.

"Zoe."

"Irvin, you can't. He's worked so hard."

"Zoe."

"He's the best student in his class!"

"Major Zoe Hanji!" His shout echoed throughout the mess hall, actually causing an echoing silence. Several people turned to look their way. Irvin almost never raised his voice except to command.

Her shoulders slumped as she faced him. Gradually the volume rose again as people returned to their business, ignoring the former science officer raising a fuss.

Finally, she whispered so low it was barely audible,

"—me."

"What?"

"Let him drift with me."

"Zoe."

"It's not against the rules. If it's me, he can do it. _We_ can do it."

Irvin looked at her long and hard. He couldn't understand why she was being so earnest on the matter. He had never known her to want to be a ranger so badly. After several minutes, he closed his eyes.

"If this fails, you have to be the one to tell him."

"We won't fail."

* * *

_Initiating neural handshake_.

Major Hanji Zoe, former Kaiju science officer, who usually brought nothing into the drift, allowed herself to be completely open this time. Images flashed of a small, run-down apartment. In the middle of the night, a drunken man shouts and beats his wife, their daughter crying silently in her closet, shutting her ears to block out the noise.

A young boy pickpockets to survive, suffering injury multiple times from grown men who beat him for his insolence. He might be small, but he can fight back well enough usually. Usually.

She's outcast by her classmates, so she buries herself in books. Science has a wonderful rationality that draws her in, and she dreams of getting away, far away.

He is strong, but not strong enough to protect others. Only himself. He thought that joining a gang would be a way to protect himself and his friends. But the mafia was more ruthless than any bullying civilian. They can't get away. They tried too late. The only one he could have called friend was lost.

When she first hears news of the Kaiju on TV, she is both terrified and fascinated. It was like something out of her books. She wanted to see them closer. There was nothing about them that anyone knew. Good. She needed something foreign and unknown. Everything she had come to know so far hadn't been worth it.

When he first hears news of the Kaiju on TV, he is spiteful. Giant monsters come to wreak havoc on mankind? Good. They can have us. People were nothing but shit. But the evil ones never die; only the innocent, and he can't close his ears to the drowning sounds of the families that fall. He tried so hard not to care. But if anyone could help, he felt he could. He refused to believe he could do nothing, even now.

She enlists in the Jaeger Academy, she found her escape, she can start new here. But nothing is new. She is still an outcast.

He enlists in the Jaeger Academy, he's free from the gutters, he can prove himself more than sewer scum. But nothing is new. People do nothing but look down on him.

Science is everything. Knowledge is everything.

Training is everything. Strength is everything.

They meet each other. She sees herself through his eyes, as someone bright and shining, full of optimism and words of encouragement. Hiding behind the scowls was a heart full of affection for her. He sees himself through her eyes, as a reflection of herself, full of the same anger and resentment and wasted opportunity. She was helping him so that he didn't turn out like she had. It wasn't pity.

_Neural bridge established. Time, eighteen seconds._

They were fully connected now. The drift was strong. They looked at each other from in their chairs, their eyes incredulous though both their hearts were glowing. They had done it. In their minds, they embraced each other, both of them overflowing with gratitude. She wasn't sure which of them had thought it first, but in the drift, they shared their first kiss.

By the end of 2018, Hanji Zoe and Rivaille are signed off to be co-pilots of the newly finished Mark 4 Jaeger, the Recon Leviathan.

* * *

**A/N**: Reviews always appreciated~ I know their characters are a bit different, but with the changed environment, I had to adjust a few things here and there. I tried to keep the core of their personalities more or less the same.


	3. Chapter 3

By 2019, the Jaeger program was thriving. Thirty active Jaegers were deployed from eight Shatterdomes located around the Pacific. Mankind was slowly recovering its dignity, and spirits were high. With Levi's graduation, the Recon Leviathan was moved to be stationed in Los Angeles, taking him and his co-pilot from the frozen shores of Alaska to the sunny shores of southern California. Captain Smith took the time to wish them luck and fond farewells as they departed, while simultaneously pleading with Zoe to not cause too much trouble, lest it be traced back to him somehow. And even though it was hardly appropriate, Hanji had no words to properly convey her overflowing gratitude, so she had held him in a very tight hug for several minutes before their helicopter took off.

The busy and bustling environment of Los Angeles stood in stark contrast to the remote tundra of Alaska, and both Levi and Zoe suffered bouts of sensory overload upon arrival. A million forms, confirmations, signatures, meetings, and mission briefings later, they were at last given some small semblance of semi-freedom. But even with their minds swimming with too much information, they took their earliest opportunity to visit the Shatterdome. The facility at the City of Angels was home to the Jaegers, Mammoth Apostle and Romeo Blue, deployed for Kaiju attacks that occurred between Canada and Central America.

The weather was warmer, the hallways more crowded, but the feeling inside the L.A. Shatterdome was very nearly the same as Anchorage.

But for their first few days, it was difficult for them to make their acquaintance with the other Jaeger pilots. The twin brothers Bruce and Trevin Gage of Romeo Blue kept mostly to themselves when at base, and they weren't at base very much. The Gage brothers were frequently called away for press conferences, interviews, and TV debuts. _They_ were the rock stars of the American west coast, the celebrities of the Los Angeles Shatterdome. At most, they could spend some time at Romeo Blue's feet, admiring her battle scars.

On the other hand, the pilots of Mammoth Apostle, the cousins Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Fubar were younger than they were, and therefore not as readily sociable to people they deemed their superiors. Bertholdt was quiet and reserved, seen trailing behind Reiner and letting his cousin do most of the talking. That particular dynamic was reminiscent of themselves to Levi, but he thought they were less glued at the hip than the cousins seemed to be.

And that was only because... Zoe had tracked down the L.A. K-science lab immediately upon arrival, and it was taking most of Levi's efforts to keep her out of there. Somehow, she still had her security clearance as a former K-science officer. Levi couldn't be sure whether she had sneaked her way into the system on purpose, or if they had been careless in their downsizing of the research departments.

To Zoe's delight, the Los Angeles Shatterdome held many more specimens and test materials than Anchorage had ever been able to offer her, which kept her rather preoccupied with learning all that she could from the current science officers about their current experiments and hypotheses. She missed meals, training... Levi spent nearly the entire first day wondering where the hell she was as he waited in their shared bunk unpacking their possessions. It only pissed him off that he had caught Reiner giving him looks of what he could assume was pity.

Eventually, Levi remembered seeing how much she had enjoyed her kaiju research in the drift and tracked her down in the K-Science lab, rescuing the researchers at work by pulling her out by the hair. He accepted the shocked looks on their faces as gratitude.

It wasn't as though he was trying to force her to give up her interest in Kaiju science completely. He just didn't want to spend his first night in Los Angeles alone.

"Tch. I had to unpack everything while you were busy drooling over Kaiju remains, I'll have you know," he grumbled as they returned to their room.

She was ecstatic about all of the new Kaiju research she had the opportunity to learn about, but that didn't stop her from noticing the layout of their bunk; A full-sized cot in one corner, Levi having unpacked and organized their things mostly together, not apart...

"It's like we've officially moved in together," she remarked casually.

"It's just a ranger bunk, don't say stupid things, four-eyes…" he muttered in response, his back turned to her and ears tinted pink.

That night they christened their new shared bunk by nearly breaking their new bed.

In the following days, feeling himself in a much better mood, Levi would follow her to the Science Lab just to be around her, even if he had very little interest in the research she blabbered on about. Her presence made most things bearable, though he still found it a bit unnerving how some of the remains still moved within the Preservation Receptacles despite being detached from the Kaiju bodies. He would never use the words "fascinating" or "beautiful" or "awesome" to describe Kaiju and their associated parts, but he could at least appreciate the drive behind it all. Understanding the enemy was key to defeating them. And he knew that even though Hanji seemed to love the monsters, she still placed humanity first, and that she would never hold back in a fight against them whilst piloting a Jaeger.

* * *

Five days after their arrival in Los Angeles, at 1400 hours on January 28th, 2019, a Category III Kaiju came through the breach. Its course was plotted for Sacramento, and Recon Leviathan was called in for her first deployment.

The manpower required to deploy a Jaeger for combat was never to be underestimated. The Shatterdome came alive seconds after the Kaiju was detected, bustling with technicians running to their stations, confirming final check-ups and measurements... In the Drivesuit Room, the pilots of Recon Leviathan were feeling the hustle and bustle of the Shatterdome in the pits of their stomachs. Zoe was looking at Levi with shining eyes, her fists clenched, even her cheeks were blushing from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She would _finally_ be able to meet her first live kaiju. He wasn't sure whether to try to calm her down or pinch her cheek for being so damned adorable.

The technicians had seven minutes to get their armor fully outfitted, but the time passed in what felt like seven seconds, and even Levi was still in mild disbelief that it was finally going to happen. Walking side by side with her to the Shatterdome, he felt he wanted to thank her for getting him to this point, for believing in him, but he couldn't form the words, so he decided to save it for the Drift.

As their armored footsteps resounded in the Conn-Pod, their eyes were locked on each other as they strapped in, as if to try and initiate the Drift before command. It was Hanji who spoke into her headpiece at last.

"Recon Leviathan, ready for neural handshake."

"Roger, Recon, neural handshake initiating in 3, 2, 1…"

It was hard to know who was feeling what, or if maybe they were just both feeling exactly the same things: Apprehension, excitement, pride, gratitude…

"Neural Bridge established, drift is strong, Recon."

"Roger that, ready for Conn-Pod drop." Zoe gave the reply.

They braced themselves as the head of the Jaeger was dropped and mounted in place, their digital HUD's lighting up. In perfect unison, they stretched the fingers of their Jaeger, bringing her right arm up, fists above their hearts. It was a salute they had invented together, symbolizing how they were offering up their hearts to the protection of humanity against the Kaiju. The grounds crew cheered at the activated Jaeger, and both of their hearts swelled with pride.

The roof to the Shatterdome was opened above them, the helicopters raising them out and carrying them north along the coast, over the water. In two hours, they were dropped into the Pacific, a few miles off the coast of Sacramento, the water making way around them, nature bowing to the might of the Jaeger. They walked her away from the coastline, heading out into the open water, sensors up and ready to meet their first Kaiju, codenamed, Titan.

"Okay, Recon. Ready for your first mission?" LOCCENT Mission Control chirped in their ears.

"Let's have a look at this cutie." Came Zoe's response, grinning widely.

Perhaps it was because of the drift, but her enthusiasm was infectious, and Levi found himself letting out a half-grin himself at her response.

In less than ten minutes, their scanners detected Titan in their immediate vicinity, a blinking red light giving them the cue to brace themselves for its approach. The beast reared out of the water with a shrill roar, making its introduction by shaking its domed head menacingly before lunging towards them. Bracing for impact, they met Titan head-on, grabbing it by the spines on its back and hurling it to one side, throwing it off balance.

_Nice to meet you_, she thought.

Levi rolled his eyes, and Zoe could feel it in her head.

It was interesting to note what the Drift brought out in their combat capabilities. They had sparred together, so they knew how the other liked to fight. They both preferred to utilize more evasive maneuvers, relying on Aikido techniques of turning the opponent's strength against them. Levi was used to using his speed and agility, always used to fighting opponents who were larger than himself. Zoe was similar, but she tended to taunt her opponent into making the first move. But agility inside a Jaeger was always slower than what they were used to in the Kwoon rooms. And size wasn't really an issue either. Sometimes the Kaiju were bigger, but one didn't exactly feel small inside a Jaeger. Something about being face to face with the beast brought out a carnal side in both of them, and both of their styles shifted into more offense than defense.

They bent their knees and broke out into a run, tackling Titan down before grabbing it by the spines on its shoulders, ripping one clean off. It screeched in pain before swiping at their chest, knocking them back. Hanji let out a laugh as they caught their balance, her eyes practically manic as water sprayed around them, the motors hissing and whirring in their ears.

_They do feel pain_, she thought.

Her mind was a strange mixture of murderous intent and scientific curiosity. Personally, Levi found that combination far more fascinating than some butt-ugly Kaiju.

_Look how it writhes… what a gorgeous beast!_

_It'll look even more gorgeous dead, now focus, you shitty four-eyes! _Levi thought in response.

Titan rose straight up, standing on its rear legs and letting out a defiant roar before plummeting back into the water on all fours, turning its body to swipe at Recon with its tail. Raising both arms, they blocked against the brunt of the blow, enough to avoid being knocked over by the force of it. Their arms ached from the force of the attack, the metal groaning as it dented in places from the impact. Titan made another turn in place before hurling its tail at them a second time. But this time, they caught the appendage in their arms, the gargantuan muscles of the Kaiju straining against every joint and engine built into Recon's motor controls.

"Plasma Cannon!" Zoe shouted above the din inside the Conn-Pod.

"Hold it steady!" Levi entrusted the strength of Recon's arms to Zoe as he moved one hand to the Control Panel, activating the plasma cannon.

"Plasma cannon charging!" He called.

"Rrraaaarrgh!"

Zoe's screams echoed fiercely both in Levi's ears and in his head; her ferocity echoed his own. Her grit was his. His resolution was hers.

As soon as the cannon was charged, they fired it first at the base of Titan's tail, blasting it near off and freeing their arms. Titan roared and thrashed, throwing up tidal waves of water in its fury.

"Again!" She shouted.

They steadied Recon's arms, aiming the cannon at the Titan's neck before blasting it once, twice, three times. As the cannon bore a hole through the beast, it let out a final roar before falling dead into the water, sending up ripples the size of buildings and leaking its iridescent blue blood into the pitch-black ocean.

"Kaiju signature extinguished! Nice work, Recon!" Mission Control transmitted.

Panting from the rush of adrenaline, Zoe and Levi looked at each other across the Conn-Pod, their mouths both slowly turning upwards into grins.

"Roger, LOCCENT." Zoe responded breathlessly to mission control before turning her attention fully to her co-pilot. "You know what we should do when we get back?" She asked, biting her lip playfully.

"I'm in your head. Of course I know." Came the reply, but Levi's eyes were shining too.

"I still want to hear you say it."

"We'll fuck each other until dawn."

They were laughing inside the drift as stillness finally settled around them in the waters of the Pacific. A slight crackle in their ears, then...

"Uhh… Recon, your mics are still on."

* * *

Their return to the Shatterdome was met with a cheering crowd of support staff. It was like walking through a parade of adoring fans, Hanji couldn't hide her smiles. Even Levi couldn't look entirely sullen. As they walked from their Jaeger out of the dome, they were stopped at the entrance by the four pilots of Mammoth Apostle and Romeo Blue.

The Gage brothers stepped forward first, holding out their hands to the two of them.

"Welcome to the Los Angeles Shatterdome." One of the twins said with a toothy grin.

Zoe and Levi took their hands, grasping them in firm, mutual handshakes. Killing Titan had been their rite of passage. Now, they could call themselves true Jaeger pilots.

From behind the Gage brothers, Reiner and Bertholdt stepped up to offer their hands as well. Reiner took Zoe's hands in a firm grip before commenting,

"Now that you've killed your first kaiju, we get to take you both out for drinks."

His cousin shook Levi's hand, looking a bit abashed before adding, "Whenever you guys are free, of course."

Levi found himself thinking two things. First, that Bertholdt was stupid tall. Second, he was 98% certain that these brats were younger than he was, however giant they were. Zoe laughed aloud, clapping Reiner on the shoulder and nodding to all of them before saying,

"Thanks, guys. We'll definitely take you up on that offer, but not tonight."

Then giving them all a wink and a wave, she grabbed Levi's hand, pulling him past the enormous crowd of people, who were now hooting and hollering after them for two reasons.

It was a wonder how they got back to their bunk after leaving the Drivesuit Room, seeing as they paused in every deserted hallway for fevered kisses and light groping. They were both feeling the aftermath of the adrenaline, spurring them to be more daring than usual with their affections. They weren't always the most tender of lovers, but they weren't usually this aggressive.

As Levi looked down on her on the bed, her lips swollen from his nibbles and her cheeks flushed and rosy, he looked into her eyes and whispered,

"…it feels like you're still in my head."

She smiled, reaching down to press against his groin with her hand, eliciting a moan from them both.

"It's called 'ghost-drifting.'" She whispered back, planting kisses along his neck.

"I like it." He closed his eyes, tangling his hands in her hair.

"Mm… me too."

Levi ran his fingers up her tank top, pushing her bra up over her breasts and running his thumb over a nipple. She arched her back into his touch, moaning, and he could feel faint traces of her pleasure in his own mind.

He licked slowly at her nipple while she clawed impatiently at his clothes, demanding that they both be naked, right this second. They managed to pull away from each other for a few seconds while they hurriedly discarded all layers of fabric, wearing only their military dog tags around their necks, which clinked together when they embraced.

The way they moved, it was as if they were drifting again. Without speaking, even without most physical cues, they knew what they both wanted. Their bodies moved in sync. Her hand reached out to his wrist as he moved it between her legs, fingering her gently. His head turned with hers to bring their lips together, repeatedly swallowing each other's moans.

Without a word, he knew she was ready for him, she knew he would take her now. Gently, she slipped a condom onto his length, looking at him with fevered eyes and making him bite his lip to keep some semblance of self-control. He slid in with ease, her body wet and wanton and all too willing. She grasped his shoulders tight; she wanted it hard and fast. So did he. She wrapped her legs tightly around him, and he lifted her up, bracing her back against the wall before pounding into her again and again, her screams echoing in the small bunk they shared.

Levi was sure that she was being loud enough for everyone in the Shatterdome to hear, but he didn't care. He loved making her scream, he loved feeling her body tighten and shiver around his cock as she came, the wetness around him growing slicker. He loved the way she shouted his name, pulled at his hair, biting and leaving marks on his neck, his shoulders. He loved that when he pressed his finger to her clit, he could make her come again and again as he thrust into her relentlessly.

He came with a guttural groan as he buried himself as deep inside her as he could, Zoe clinging to him tightly, her throat raw and her voice hoarse from the exertion. They were connected in every way: through their bodies, through the remnants of their drift… The thrill after kicking Kaiju ass was unparalleled.

Afterwards, as they lay in their bed, Zoe nestled with her head in the crook of his neck and tracing lazy circles on his chest, she commented,

"Have you ever felt so—"

"—at home?" He finished, kissing her forehead affectionately.

She closed her eyes, loving how his chest reverbed slightly when he spoke.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I mean, obviously this war with the Kaiju is horrible. But this is… I finally feel like I belong somewhere. Like the world has a place for me."

He understood completely what she meant as he had felt her joy in the drift as they fought. For now, he decided not to worry about the likelihood of their surviving the war. For now he decided to ignore the rate of jaeger pilots being diagnosed with cancer from piloting the early Jaeger models. For now, he focused on how the current moment was all he needed, all he wanted.

* * *

**A/N**: Wow, action sequences are super fun to write. I actually kind of wanted to make this chapter a little big longer, but then it started getting too long and all of a sudden, the scene following the smut didn't seem to really fit, so I'll just push it back to the next chapter. As always, reviews appreciated!


	4. Chapter 3 omake

"So you didn't graduate from the same class?" Reiner asked incredulously as he nearly dropped his fork back down onto his plate.

"Then how did you even know you'd be compatible?" The normally silent Bertholdt was leaning in beside Reiner, eyes wide.

"Sometimes there's just chemistry, I guess." Bruce laughed as he flagged the waitress down for another round of beers for the table.

"Still though, there aren't that many non-relatives that make it through." Trevin added.

"There are those Russians though, in Vladivostock." Bertholdt chimed. "Cherno Alpha. They have the longest running neural handshake too. To date, eighteen hours."

"Christ, why did they need to be connected that long?"

"I'm fuzzy on the details…"

"I love you, brother, but I don't think I'd want to be drifting with you for eighteen hours." Bruce joked, clapping his twin on the shoulder.

"Right back at you, bro. I don't need to know about all those girls you pick up at the bar."

Just as the words were out of his mouth, their waitress returned with their third round of drinks, and Bruce gave her a charming wink and a flash of his dazzling teeth in thanks. She stammered a response through a blush before walking away from the table.

"That uniform is wasted on you, bro, the ladies looove Jaeger pilots." Bruce raised his jug, and the six of them toasted again, Trevin rolling his eyes.

It was a new feeling for Hanji and Levi to feel like they were wanted in a group. They were so used to being the outcasts, who could only ever relate to each other. But there was something to be said about the camaraderie that existed within the Shatterdome. It was humans versus Kaiju. There was little point in alienating each other when the real aliens were knocking on their doorstep. Zoe was very much enjoying the evening, drinking heartily and piping in to the conversation. Levi was enjoying it less than she was, but enjoying it nonetheless. He was feeding off of Zoe's energy, happy to see her happy, and amusing himself with his mental analyses of the others at the table. He considered them his comrades, fellow soldiers; soon he would call them friends. He just wasn't as verbal in conversation unless directly spoken to.

"Men love them too. I think that guy over there is checking you out, Zoe." Reiner said in a low voice, waggling his eyebrows inappropriately before Bertholdt smacked him.

"What?" She flustered. She was used to being a great many things. A nerd, a weirdo, a Kaiju groupie… An object of attraction, not so much.

Levi's eyes shot across the bar to the man in question, glaring daggers in his direction to discourage any licentious thoughts he may be harboring. He put an arm around Zoe in the booth, mildly annoyed by the fact that she was still comparably taller than he was and it was a bit awkward to reach up around her. Regardless of his height though, he was sure the message went through loud and clear. The lady would **not** be interested.

"I think he better think twice on that front, Levi's got murder in his eyes." Trevin teased, scooting himself away from the tiny pilot.

"Gotta put a ring on her, Levi!" Bruce teased, making both of their ears go pink.

"B-Bruce!" Hanji stammered.

"Sorry, sorry, I don't mean to be indelicate." Bruce laughed as he put up his hands in apology.

"It_ is_ war though. If you're lucky enough to find someone special…" Trevin sighed wistfully into his jug.

"Have you?" Reiner, ever the tactful. Levi and Zoe had both noted by now that he had some of the most inappropriate timing they had ever heard.

Bruce's expression screamed, _Oh, come on, Reiner, did you really just fucking ask that question? _The older Gage brother (older by twenty minutes) was the sort to tease his own brother endlessly but became a defensive twat whenever anyone else tried.

But Trevin replied by reaching into his coat pocket, pulling out a small velvet box and placing it on the table. It had the effect of shocking Reiner into embarrassment by his own presumptuousness, looking at the small box with wide eyes and a small blush on his cheeks. A few minutes of silence passed at the table, the small velvet box commanding all of their deference. Bertholdt was the one who finally reached out to open it, revealing a small, shimmering engagement ring. A small ripple of reaction went through the table as they all stared at the small, glimmering gemstone.

Levi tried not to scoff. Here they were, seasoned soldiers who had piloted Jaegers, punched kaiju in the face; here were people who had become heroes to the world in the encroaching apocalypse, but they could still get googly eyes for a piece of diamond. Levi personally felt he could never think such domestic thoughts until the war was over and done, even though he was lucky enough to have someone like Hanji to stand beside him. He couldn't see himself as a husband, much less a father. At most, he could be the surly uncle that everyone felt obligated to invite to social functions even though they didn't necessarily enjoy his company.

But there was the nagging thought that he didn't quite know her feelings on the issue though, so he peered around to look at Hanji's expression. She was looking at the ring with a mild curiosity, but nothing that resembled longing.

"What's her name?" Bertholdt finally broke the silence.

"Claire." His expression was soft as he looked at the table. "Every Kaiju I defeat, I do it with her in mind."

Reiner held up his jug.

"Well, whatever brings you back alive, right?"

They clinked their mugs together, congratulating Trevin on his upcoming engagement, wishing him luck and only the best despite the threat of the end of the world.

The hours of the night flew by after that with notable highlights they would have to keep from their superior officers. Namely, Reiner dazzling the bar with his skills at karaoke despite it not actually being a karaoke bar. Or Levi nearly breaking a man's jaw for drunkenly grabbing Hanji's arm as she came out of the restroom and offering to buy her a drink. It was Hanji's great idea that they play Chicken in the parking lot, Trevin on Bruce's shoulders, Levi on hers. Bertholdt and Reiner had to sit out since Reiner was too heavy for Bertholdt to lift and Bertholdt was too awkwardly tall for Reiner. The epic battle between the Gage Giant and Artillery Lint ended in a draw as they were chased out of the parking lot by the bar owner.

And after stumbling back into the Shatterdome and dispersed to their respective bunks, Levi and Hanji tumbled sideways into their cot, wondering just how the hell they were going to get off the cushioned ceiling and onto their ceiling-fanned bed. Giggling softly, Hanji pulled at Levi's shirt, trying to pull it off the sensible way: via the armholes. She was sure she was still mostly lucid. There were just a few details about how clothes worked that were eluding her mind at the moment, that was all. And Levi just wasn't helping, with his stupid frowny face and his cutely furrowed eyebrows…

She planted an affectionate smooch between his eyebrows, right upon his permanent frown wrinkle and murmured,

"You're the Lint to my Artillery…"

"Pretty sure it's the other way around, dumbass." Levi grumbled, eventually managing to pull his shirt over his head. God, he was pissed.

Rolling around repeatedly, Hanji somehow managed to roll her shirt up enough so that she could do the final motion of pulling it over her head and getting the damned fabric off of her. Levi curled up against her on the bed, resting his head on her chest, and holding her so tight, she whined about her ribs cracking. He was much too drunk to do anything but cuddle, but cuddling was always nice, so he had few complaints.

Outside of the drift, they loved the skinship of holding each other's naked bodies just to hold each other. The mind meld they shared inside the Leviathan was an irreplaceable experience that he felt privileged to be able to share, but there was still a lot to be said for being able to feel each other's warmth and have that direct physical contact. He could hear her heartbeat beneath her breast, and it soothed him. She was tracing small circles on his back with her fingertips, humming lazily into his hair.

"Hanji."

"Yes, Lint?"

His mouth twitched in irritation at the response. Okay, so she was probably more drunk than he was. But didn't that make it the best time to have this discussion?

"Do you want to—"

"Mm… no. Just cuddling like this is nice." She mumbled, kissing his forehead.

"N-no. That's… not what I meant."

"Hm?"

"I meant—do you want to… should I—"

"—get me a diamond?"

Or… maybe she was a little less drunk than he had hoped.

"Should I even ask how you knew?"

"You were looking at it earlier with _extra _irritation." She poked his nose with her finger to punctuate her point.

"Oh."

"If you want to, I don't mind."

"That's a shitty proposal."

"Didn't take you for a romantic, Levi." She pulled away from him slightly to look down into his face. "Wait, are you serious?"

"I don't mean, with a wedding. Just…" This was so much easier in the Drift.

"I don't think putting rings on our fingers will change anything."

"No, I guess not."

"It's not that I _don't _want to. I just don't particularly _want_ to."

"Mm."

Her lips pursed. She felt she was being unfair. Her own family had left much to be desired, she was in no rush to lock herself officially into another one, even if she loved Levi. Or rather, it was precisely because she loved him. She had seen it all her life, how marriage changed people, changed expectations, how the labels brought connotations and responsibilities from outside of the relationship… and she just wanted to enjoy how they already were. It was easier this way. But she also considered that he had grown up alone, and that deep down, he wanted to know what it was like to have a family. The rumor was that family was supposed to always be there for you and love you unconditionally. It was just unfortunate for him that Hanji had grown up with the exact opposite idea: Family are the people you're born to, the ones you couldn't choose, the ones you have no choice but to deal with.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No. There's nothing to be sorry about." Levi kissed her lips gently, trying to ease her worries. He would reassure her the next time they drifted, all he wanted was to be by her side.

* * *

**A/N**: This is really just a filler chapter to get some silliness in before I write more actual plot in the next bit.

My favorite part of this is that I actually managed to fit "Artillery Lint" in as a semi-Jaeger name in their game of drunk Chicken in the parking lot. My husband had pointed out to me that Recon Leviathan was an internally inconsistent name and that it was about as silly as naming a jaeger Artillery Lint. So I swore to him that I would squeeze that into this fic somehow.


	5. Chapter 4

"Where is it?!"

"I can't—our rear sensors are down!"

"LOCCENT, we need some visuals here!"

"To your west, Recon, 15 meters and closing."

"Sneaky bastard, trying to get us from behind."

_But that shows how clever it is! _Hanji was smiling like a mother seeing her baby walk for the first time. At the same time, she was itching to give it a square kick in the gut and rip out its jaw. Levi briefly wondered if that combination made for good parenting.

_Plasma Cannon charged._ Levi was all about business. Get out, kill the kaiju, maybe drag its body back to base. But he never failed to share in at least a part of Hanji's bloodlust. The fury was in him too, just hidden in the drift for only her to see.

_Then let's get this sweetie!_

It was almost enough to irritate him that she had about a million pet names for the kaiju and absolutely none for him. Unless "Levi" counted in place of the fact that she couldn't seem to say his real name.

One plasma cannon blast straight in the kaiju's mouth just as it surfaced out of the water called a successful mission. After their first success, they had learned to make their sexual promises either in their head or to make sure that their mics were off before they said them aloud.

Back in the Shatterdome, after stationing Recon for tune-ups and maintenance, they headed straight for their bunk as always (_now even the grounds crew knew to get out of their way when they returned from a kill_). But when they were nearly to their bunk, Levi pulled her by the wrist into a bathroom shower unit, shoving her against the tiled wall before kissing her roughly along her neck. She squealed with delight at his aggressiveness; she was always feeling extra frisky at the end of a battle. What she hadn't expected was for him to actually turn on the shower spray.

She sputtered a bit, shaking her head and wiping her face to get the water out of her eyes before,

"Wha—Levi!"

But he only responds by pulling her tank top over her head, pulling at her pants, all of this made more difficult by the fact that now both of their clothes were considerably wet and clinging to their skin. Honestly, if he had wanted them to take a shower, he probably should have removed their clothes before turning on the water. Hanj vaguely wondered why he wanted them to bathe suddenly. They had returned from three prior missions and gone straight to bed, not really bothering with the fact that they were a bit sweaty and exhausted from jaeger piloting. What was different this time?

Well, besides the wonderful feeling of overall slickness as he ran his hands over her body. The slipperiness that was normally reserved for just between their legs was now all over, and she felt herself growing just as wet inside.

"Mm…" she moaned into his kisses, running her hands all over his back, feeling the tense muscles under the skin there. He had a slight OCD about cleanliness… maybe he just wanted to indulge his preferences a bit today.

Eventually they got their wet clothes removed, even their clunky combat boots, which were now wet inside, along with their socks. His hands were roaming absolutely everywhere he could get them, and his lips would not relinquish hers for more than a moment. His hands haphazardly grabbed the soap, running it between his hands to get them lathered and slick before sliding them over her collarbones, her shoulders, but mostly her breasts. His thumb glided over her nipples, his fingers trying to pinch them but the grip slipping free, and Hanji could not keep her moans quiet. They echoed off the tiled walls and floor, ringing in her own ears and in Levi's. He loved it. It was almost like the drift.

He grabbed her hips, twisting them and turning her around, her back to him and her chest pressed against the tiled wall of the shower stall, facing away from the spray. She could feel a noticeably hard bulge against her ass, and she moaned when he pressed it against her. His lips kissed her shoulder blade, one hand fondling her breast, the other reaching down between her legs and pressing against her clitoris. Her hands went up to brace herself against the wall, her breaths coming in heated pants and her head pressed against the cool tiles. She almost wished he'd let them keep their boots on. Then she wouldn't have to worry too much about slipping and cracking her head open. That'd be a laugh. The skilled pilots of the Recon Leviathan, after four successful kaiju kills, meet their end in an unfortunate bout of shower sex after a mission.

But as much as she loved Levi's aggression, she always wanted more of an active role, so she gripped the wrist that was fingering her teasingly, pulling it away. She could feel him pout against her skin, but she would soon fix that as she dropped onto her knees on the shower floor, turning slowly around to come face to face with his crotch.

Levi's fingers twitched with anticipation. If he had to choose one thing about sex with Hanji that made her different from the few other women he had ever had sex with, it would be her enthusiasm for it. She enjoyed it, and she was an active participant, not a passive recipient. The great thing about this was that she really knew how to suck a guy off.

Her tongue licked him slowly from base to tip, and he groaned, tangling his fingers through her wet hair. Her eyes looked up at him, the corners of her mouth turned slightly upward as she swirled her tongue teasingly around the tip. The acoustics of pleasured moans were great in the shower. They would definitely have to do this again. The water also made a blowjob much easier, as everything was already so wet and slippery. Hanji experimentally took as much of him in her mouth as she could, stopping when the tip of his length brushed against the back of her throat. She didn't have much of a gag reflex, but she still couldn't take him completely in. His body was shivering against her, all of his muscles tensing.

Playfully, she reached around with one hand to smack his ass, the slapping sound amplified by the water. Then she gripped that cheek tight as she swirled her tongue around his length in her mouth, sucking slightly with her lips. That earned her a very guttural moan and a slight forward thrust of his hips. She didn't need to be drifting to know how he felt about that particular gesture.

_Time for another experiment, perhaps? _

She began to move her lips up and down the length of his cock, humming slightly as she brought one finger to his anus, exerting just enough pressure with her finger to stimulate him but not enough to enter. Levi gave a muffled yelp before pulling her by the hair off of him, glaring down slightly at her.

"What are you doing?" he half growled.

"Just thought I'd try something new. Do you not like it?" She punctuated with more gentle insistence there.

Whatever his initial apprehensions were, his body was responding to it quite nicely, his manhood twitching slightly and his breath hitching in his throat. But after a few seconds, he cleared his throat, turning the water off behind him suddenly and startling Hanji with the sudden outburst. He brought her back up to a standing position before turning her around and making her lean forward. Hanji giggled at his sudden forcefulness. So he was shy about his ass, was he? She would have to remember that for later.

Levi stepped out of the shower for a moment to fumble through his discarded pants from earlier, pulling out a condom and a small bottle of lubricant. Hanji made an approving hum with raised eyebrows.

"You had this all planned out, didn't you?"

"Don't ask stupid questions."

"You did a hell of a job hiding that from me in the Drift."

A proud smirk made its way to Levi's lips as he slid on the rubber, coating it generously with lube. Placing himself at her entrance, he gripped her hips as she spread her legs a little wider.

"How long have you been fantasizing about this, ranger?" she teased, pushing herself back against him teasingly.

Ignoring her, he slowly pushed his way inside, Hanji biting her lip and curling her fingers into fists against the shower wall. Turning the shower off didn't make anything quieter. Now they could hear every possible sound of their lovemaking, the way her ass slapped against him as he thrust into her, the echoes from her moans and shouts, the way her hands slid over the walls trying to grasp at something to brace herself better. She tried as much as she could to thrust against him as he was pounding into her, her vision hazy and her knees growing weak.

"Ahh… Ah, Ah! Ahh… Levi! " She was a screamer. There was no such thing as quiet, controlled sex with Zoe Hanji.

Levi lifted her leg, placing the bend of her knee into the crook of his elbow, forcing her to press further against the wall as he picked up his pace, moaning as she screamed. She was getting so close… Using her shoulder to brace herself on one side, she reached down with her hand to press against her clit as Levi filled her up with his heat. It made her come sooner than she anticipated, and she let out a stuttering scream, her entire body shuddering and falling near limp. Levi let her leg down, and she clung to the wall, gasping and panting, their bodies still joined.

After a few moments, Levi pressed gentle but needy kisses between her shoulder blades before he started slowly thrusting again. Her insides were raw, but he hadn't come yet.

"Mm… now my turn…" he murmured against her skin.

Hanji had never experienced a particularly sustained orgasm before, so she bit her lip and tried to endure it. Half of her body screamed that it had been enough, that she was over-sensitive now and that she couldn't handle any more stimulation. But the other half screamed that she could never get enough, that she wanted Levi to fuck her forever and to ride that wave of pleasure for as long as she possibly could. She pushed her body to the brink, both mentally and physically inside of a jaeger on a regular basis. Surely she could push her limits sexually a little bit more.

Her moans had turned into keening wails, she felt so overcome by the sensations. Thankfully, when she came a second time, so did Levi, biting his lip as he felt her tighten around him and coat him with her wetness.

And then they both fell to their knees in the tub, panting heavily, sweat covering their bodies in a thin sheen instead of water. Hanji placed an adoring kiss on Levi's forehead, nuzzling his nose with hers in the afterglow. She was all smiles and happy exhaustion.

Levi kissed her right cheek, then her left, then her right again, then her left again. Four kisses, four kaiju kills.

* * *

The number of kaiju dead was only piling up and up as the months and years went by. Even though mankind was on the defensive from these invaders, the war was beginning to feel one-sided. The kaiju would come through the breach only to be knocked down by the jaegers waiting on the other side. It felt as if humanity had gotten the problem mostly under control.

Then came the news of Gipsy Danger. At first, it seemed a bad fluke. Between the three jaegers of the Los Angeles Shatterdome, they had yet to suffer any casualties or any major damage to their Jaegers. Bruce and Trevin maintained that they would never slip like the Becketts did. Jaegers were only as good as their pilots, and the Gage brothers were two of the very best.

But then Shaolin Rouge fell in Hong Kong.

Then Diablo Intercept in Lima.

The Kaiju are getting smarter, came the whispers. Category II and Category I kaiju were nowhere to be seen. Only Category III's, and there was talk of potential Category IV breaches soon. All around the Pacific, rangers were reporting that the kaiju are beginning to attack the conn pods systematically. They were now aware of the weak points in the Jaegers.

Suddenly, Zoe found herself torn in her heart again. The War wasn't turning out the way they had hoped. In the complacency of their victories, the Kaiju had evolved. She felt that the way to tackle the problem now was to return to kaiju research. Why were they evolving beyond the breach? They had never let a kaiju return through there, how could the ones on the other side know to change their strategies so precisely? What was it about them that they didn't understand? She wanted to be in the laboratory, not the Kwoon room; she wanted to talk to Newt, not other jaeger pilots.

Levi understood her apprehensions better than most. She didn't want to go out there or see her comrades go out there without knowing the dangers. Information, knowledge was everything, she had always thought so. They thought they understood enough about the kaiju to make a difference, but that was proving not to be the case anymore.

In the Kwoon room, Levi swiveled on his toes around to Hanji's blind side, swiping the staff across her ankles and knocking her down. She fell to the mat with a thud, her face grimacing from the sting in her ankles.

"You're distracted." Levi said as he helped her up.

"Sparring isn't help clearing my head as much as I had hoped." She took his hand, rising up and taking her staff in both hands.

"Losses happen in every war."

He struck from above, she blocked, he turned to the side, she parried.

"Not like this."

She swung the staff around in her hands before swinging up from below, Levi blocking. She spun in place to strike again from above, and he blocked above his head before turning his staff swiftly sideways and hitting her in the opening she had left below her arm.

"Bad calls happen. We win some. So do they." Levi stepped back as he spoke, counting the score in his head. 3-0.

"These aren't just bad calls being made, Levi. The enemy is changing, adapting… evolving. We need to know more about them before we can proceed."

Levi eyed her warily as he circled around her.

"They won't let you be a science officer again. They need you inside of a Jaeger. I need you with me inside of Recon."

"I know, I—I know." She threw her staff onto the mat, plopping herself down onto it and sitting with her knees drawn in to her chest.

She felt she was being selfish. She loved being a ranger, and she loved piloting a Jaeger with Levi by her side… but she also felt the need to be a K-Science officer again, working on theories about the Kaiju, where they come from, and how they could close the breach to end the war once and for all. Between ripping kaiju apart with her (near) bare hands and dissecting them for science, she wanted both worlds.

A small thud sounded as Levi dropped his staff onto the mat, moving to sit beside her, one knee drawn up on which he rested his elbow.

"Humanity has lost three jaegers in a row, that's not a fluke." Came her muffled voice, her head tucked between her arms.

"I know."

"I don't like losing."

She felt him grab her arm suddenly, wrenching it free from its folded position atop her knees. He pulled her to face him, putting another hand firmly on her shoulder, eyes inches from hers.

"Then win."

It sounded so easy when he said it like that. But her mind was running through all of the variable situations, the evidence stacking up against their chances… if any one of them were deployed for the next attack, it could be their last battle. She didn't want to lose her comrades, Bruce, Trevin, Reiner, Bertholdt… she couldn't stand it if something happened to Levi either. She had always assumed that Jaeger pilots would fall together but after hearing about the Becketts…

He shook her once, hard, focusing her attention on him and him alone.

"Look at me." He commanded. "I'm your co-pilot. _We_ are the Recon Leviathan. The science can continue without you, I can't. So focus on the one thing you're meant to do, and don't half-ass it."

And for a brief moment, his eyes softened before he whispered,

"Don't leave me alone out there in the Drift…"

Silence hung in the air between them, heavy and suffocating. His hands were shaking where they held her tight, her eyes were lowered in shame. Finally she reached up with her arms, pulling Levi into her chest, kissing him gently on his head.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You're right, I'm a ranger. I'm _your_ co-pilot. I'll never leave you alone."

They had found each other by extraordinary chance, she thought. And meeting Levi had given her life a second chance, a renewed meaning after she had considered it forfeit of purpose. She could never abandon that now. They had sworn together to offer their hearts, their lives for the sake of humanity's survival. They would fight, they would win. And if they couldn't win, they had at least faced the end of the world on their terms, and at the very least, they would be together.

In late 2020, a Category III Kaiju came through the breach, setting course for Seattle. Romeo Blue was deployed up the coast.

Levi, Hanji, Reiner, and Bertholdt stood in LOCCENT Mission Control, their hearts heavy as they see and hear firsthand how the Kaiju tears off Romeo's arm, smashes through the Conn-Pod… how Bruce and Trevin fought with their every last breath, killing the Kaiju at the cost of their own lives.

When the PPDC are contacting the Gage brothers' next of kin, the other jaeger pilots tell them about Claire, Trevin's would-be fiancée.

In the aftermath, there is no time to mourn their passing, no time to grieve for their loss. Those left behind are left with grim thoughts of when it will be their turn to fall.

* * *

**A/N**: It's... getting heavy now? I'm reeeeeally undecided as to whether or not they're going to die. Because given the Pacific Rim universe, it's very likely that they'd die, but I also just really want these two to be happy. And I'm not sure that they're going to be allowed to be happy in the SNK universe, so...


	6. Chapter 5

"What do you mean they won't build any more jaegers?" Hanji might not have the extra stars on her lapel to prove her worth as a military strategist, but she knew damn well that you didn't win a war by ceasing production on artillery.

"We lost four jaegers in 2020, and the PPDC isn't taking that well." Bertholdt spoke mostly into his cup, his shoulders slumped, a familiar expression of anxiety on his face.

"They're talking instead about building a giant wall to keep out the Kaiju. They're calling it the Wall of Life." Reiner rolled his eyes, holding up his fingers in mock quotation signs at the word 'life.'

"Have they at least increased research funding?"

"I wouldn't know about something like that."

It's 2021, and the remaining four jaeger pilots of the Los Angeles Shatterdome sit in a seedy, half-empty pub. Since the fall of Romeo Blue, they had stopped going to the bar with the good drinks and the booth in the corner with the table with the one shaky leg. But it wasn't as if sorrow could restrain a person's need to drink, since it tended to be the main offender for that sort of thing. So they had found another place to frequent. And it didn't even matter that half the times the vomit on the floor was just left there or that the walls were drafty in some places where more than just the puke-yellow wallpaper had torn.

"They're getting smarter, aren't they?" Bertholdt posed nervously, a cold sweat forming on his brow that the whiskey in his hand had no hand in causing.

"Let's not talk about this now." Levi interjected, before the conversation drifted too far in the wrong direction. He worried enough about the kaiju while on duty, and while off duty because they seemed to plague Hanji's mind non-stop. Even without ghost drifting, her anxiousness was palpable in his own head.

"But if we don't talk about it, we might end up like Br—"

The slam of a jug on the table brought silence to the bar. All eyes were fixed on Hanji, who had lowered her head so that it was nearly touching the table, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the mug tight. Slowly she lifted her head, a sheepish grin on her face as she suddenly jerked, raising her hand up and turning her body sideways, calling,

"Barkeep! Another round, if you'd please!"

And for the rest of the night, they were silent.

* * *

In 2022, an unprecedented amount of kaiju come through the breach, and ever more jaegers fall.

Matador Fury.

Eden Assassin.

In 2023, you could toss a coin to see whether or not a jaeger would make it.

In the summer of that year, Recon was called out along with Azul Conquistador to stop a Category III Kaiju (codenamed: Pishtaco). Whenever possible, it was a good idea now to send two jaegers instead of one to fend off a kaiju attack. It had increased their odds significantly of jaegers returning alive from their missions, and the remaining jaegers needed to last, for they wouldn't be replaced.

"Where is it?!"

"Carajo! I've lost it!"

"Our sensors are faulty, Recon!"

Azul's pilots were screaming through the coms.

"Your 7 o' clock, turn now!" Hanji called as Recon came up on their flank. Coming from the other side, they threw out an arm to catch Pishtaco in the jaw just as it breached the water beside Azul.

"Gracias!"

"Thank us later, what do you have to work with?"

"Navigations down, sensors faulty, cooling low."

"Artillery?"

"Six missiles left for us. Not enough to take down, I think."

The Kaiju roared as it tore itself out of the water. If they had to guess, they would think it was fairly pissed off.

"Good enough for a distraction!"

Recon circled around, trying to cover the Kaiju from both sides, its stance wary and cautious. It turned its head rapidly, trying to keep track of both opponents. Its body was relatively slow, but its head moved quite quickly by comparison, and it had been good at defending itself thus far. Hanji could see its glowing eyes stare at both jaegers' respective conn-pods.

_Clever little_—

Moving near simultaneously, Hanji and Levi put out their right arms, extending their plasma cannon and activating its charging sequence. The Kaiju recognized the immediate threat and turned its attention fully on them, half-ignoring the battered Azul.

As it turned its back from them almost completely, Azul launched three missiles at it, barely denting the tough hide of the creature, but certainly getting its attention. The momentary distraction was all they needed. Hanji called through the coms,

"That's good, Azul, pull back!"

Their plasma cannon was raised to strike. The kaiju sprung at Azul, Recon shot at its back. But the back was the most armored part of its body and it barely made a dent.

"Shit! Again!"

Recon reloaded and let off another shot just as Pishtaco latched onto the head of Azul, digging its claws into it, and turning it around to use it as a shield. Their blast tore through the jaeger as the Kaiju roared in defiance.

"Azul!"

But there was no answer on the other side of the com, only static.

"LOCCENT, we've lost communication with Azul, do you copy?" Levi called into the com, his heart rate matching Hanji's panic-stricken one.

"No readings from Azul, Recon. You're on your own."

The Kaiju reared and roared, and the pilots of the Recon Leviathan screamed back; their drift was full with a maddening fury. They charged, taking a headbutt to the chest to grab the kaiju by its jaws, wrenching them open.

_Crush it! Shred it to pieces! Tear its body limb from limb! _

With a cry, they charged the pistons in the left arm to maximum power as they ripped the jaw straight off of its hinges, the creature thrashing in their grip and sending off tidal waves as ripples. It didn't matter how loud it roared, Hanji was roaring even louder in the drift. They fired two, three, twelve shots down its throat, blasting its insides and shooting well after it had stopped twitching in their grip.

Afterward, they stood there panting, their eyes wide as they stared at the mangled corpse in the ocean, oozing its iridescent blue blood out into the water.

_Azul…_

_Are they?_

They turned to examine the fallen jaeger behind them, pulling its great metal body out of the water. It was heavy, heavier because of the ocean that had leaked into its gaping holes. Water poured out of its every crevice, Hanji tried hard not to think of its resemblance to blood when recovering a dead body. But as soon as they had lifted the chest piece out, their breaths hitched in their throats.

Their misguided blast from earlier had gone straight through Azul's conn-pod, the broken pieces of metal and steel gaping around it like torn and burned flesh.

"Kaiju signature eradicated. Good work, Recon." Came the message from LOCCENT.

_No…_

"Recon, do you copy?"

_This can't—_

"Recon?"

The drift grew painful. It was filled with the agony of two hearts breaking, two minds racing with guilt and self-loathing. It was one thing to watch their comrades fall to a kaiju. But to think that their last moments came from a badly aimed jaeger attack? The last moments of their lives had been ripped away by their comrades, not by their enemy.

By the time they had returned to Los Angeles, they had logged a little over nine hours of drift syncing. They had personally retrieved and returned the remains of Azul Conquistador back to the Shatterdome in Lima. When the command thanked them for returning the jaeger, they hid their shame that they could not return the bodies also.

_Miguel Vasquez._

_Alva Vasquez. _

_Brother and sister. _

_We can't ever forget. _

_We won't ever forget. _

* * *

In 2024, an abysmal eight jaegers are lost when an unexpected fourteen kaiju emerge from the breach.

The twelfth kaiju attack of that year was left to Recon and Mammoth.

Its plotted trajectory was logged as Santa Barbara, a high Category III codenamed Eloah.

It moved unpredictably quickly and was less than a mile off shore before Recon and Mammoth could intercept it in the water. Within the first few seconds of combat, Hanji could see that in deep water, the jaegers would be at a disadvantage.

"It's built for water more than land!"

Its overall shape was quadripedal, resembling a crocodile with its length and leanness. It dove underwater like a serpent, hooking one of Mammoth's legs, and pulling it out from under it with surprising force.

"Shit!"

"Watch out for the tail!"

Mammoth was a hulking jaeger, built for strength not for agility. Recon was at Mammoth's side in moments, reaching beneath the waves to grab at Eloah, attempting to pull it out of its watery comfort zone. But once they had managed to pull it out, it thrashed wildly like a fish out of water, its long tail whipping about it and knocking into Recon's headpiece.

"For fuck's—" They drop him, and it splashes back into the ocean, out of sight. But it's given Mammoth enough time to recover and regain its footing.

"It's slippery." Levi grumbled as if he had been forced to hold the disgusting specimen with his bare hands.

"The back end of that thing is trouble." Bertoldt's voice crackled through the mic. "No, Reiner, don't make an ass joke."

"It's like you can read my mind!"

"Boys, focus!" Humor was one way to keep sane in the chaos of the apocalypse, but even Hanji had lost patience for it in the past year.

The sensors were tracking Eloah as it circled around them in the water, waiting for a chance to strike. It was fast, faster than Recon, and it would be hard to pin down without a plan.

"We need a diversion." Levi called into the coms.

"We'll do it. It comes at us because it knows we're slow." Reiner answered.

Levi sensed Hanji's immediate hesitation to this idea in the drift, but he pushed it down.

_Azul…_

_They are not the Vasquez siblings._

_What if we miss again?_

_We won't. _

_We should be the bait. _

_Mammoth is too slow to follow-through once we're down. _

"Recon, do you copy?"

Hanji gritted her teeth, pushing back tears as she replied, her voice quavering.

"Roger, Mammoth, commence!"

Taking the call, Mammoth engages Eloah, diving for it under the water and trying to grab its slippery body. Recon begins to charge up the cannon as Reiner and Bert wrestle with the beast, its long tail wrapped around one arm, squeezing tight and immobilizing them. Recon raises the cannon, but it's impossible to get a clear shot. The kaiju has practically wrapped itself around Mammoth's entire upper torso, and it wasn't gearing to let go.

"Recon, take the shot!" Reiner's voice squawked in their ears.

"It's crushing the pistons in our right arm! Recon!" Bert's panicked voice.

But Recon won't fire. She can't fire. In the Drift, Levi is holding her hand, trying to help steel her resolve, but she won't do it. Not without a clear shot.

_It needs both of us to shoot, Hanji. We need to take the shot._

_It's not clean, we'll miss! _

_Aim high, then we'll miss their conn pod. _

_If it's not a killing blow, then we'll have irreparably damaged Mammoth for nothing!_

_Hanji! _

"Recon, be advised, you're getting out of sync!" LOCCENT called into their ears.

"Take the shot!"

"I can't!" Hanji screams and Levi relinquishes the fight.

He follows her train of thought instead, not risking any loss of drift syncing and resolving to follow her course of action. She wasn't chasing the RABIT, but flashes of Azul were strong in her mind. They drop the cannon and charge forward, grasping at Eloah, punching it in the jaw to distract it. Its grip loosens on Mammoth and Recon does their best to pry it off of the other jaeger.

After a few more strong punches to its gut, the kaiju relinquishes its grip on Mammoth, diving into the ocean with a roar and slipping away again.

"Mammoth, report!"

"Half of the pistons are gone, right arm is essentially at 50% capacity."

"Why didn't you take the shot?"

"Not the time for that, I'm afraid."

Eloah had slithered away, Recon couldn't pick it up on their sensors. They were about to call it in to mission control, when their intercoms buzzed.

"Recon, Mammoth! What's the hold up?! It's headed straight for the shore!"

"Shit!"

They broke into a run, as fast as the weight of their jaegers would allow. It didn't take long for Recon to overtake Mammoth, as it was a much lighter, faster jaeger, and half a mile from the coastline, it grabs hold of the blasted creature's tail, pulling as hard as Hanji and Levi can muster.

It roared and thrashed in their grip. Mammoth could hear its cries from even their distance, and they called in for evacuation of the citizens in Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas while they fought to catch up.

Together, Hanji and Levi dug their heels into the ground, pulling with all their strength and eventually hurling Eloah out of the water into the air. They threw it behind them, away from the shoreline, and it surfaced almost immediately to whip its tail at them. It caught Recon in the gut, knocking them down into the water on their back. Before they could get up, it was on them, clawing and biting at their systems under the water.

Mammoth came charging through the water, true to its namesake, tackling into the beast and knocking it away.

"Recon! Get up!"

Panting and gasping, Levi and Hanji struggled to pull their jaeger to a standing position once again. The hull of the jaeger had been breached in several places, and water had leaked in to some of their systems. Red lights were flashing all about the conn pod, along with several Alert messages. Because in case it wasn't obvious from the hissing steam and sparks flying everywhere about them, the robotic female voice just had to make sure they were perfectly aware of their situation.

"Status?!"

"Alive!" Hanji practically snarled, her lip was bleeding from having accidentally bitten it in the earlier fall. Levi was panting heavily as well, audibly growling, which was a rare occurrence for him.

A short distance away, Eloah emerged from the water, mimicking Hanji's snarl.

Without hesitation this time, Recon lunged, grabbing at its jaw. It hissed and screeched, clawing at Recon's head, arms, anything it could get its claws on.

Mammoth watched on, its resolve wavering between its two pilots.

_Reiner—_

_We'll take the shot, they've got it distracted. _

_But we haven't told them!_

_They're soldiers, Bertholdt! They know what to expect out here! Now ready the rockets with me! _

Eloah wrapped its strong tail around Recon's midsection, squeezing like a python as it bit and tore its shoulder asunder. As the spinal hull was bent and breached, Hanji and Levi both screamed in agony. They could feel the jaeger's systems breaking, increased surges of electricity coursing through their Pons sets. They could feel a sharp nagging pain in the bases of their own spines, their bodies spazzing uncontrollably in their restraints. Dimly, they could hear Reiner and Bertholdt in their heads that they were going to take the shot, they would take it down, to brace themselves.

The impact knocked them back, the kaiju ripping at the metal it held between its claws in response to the damage. Sparks flew as the conn pod was breached. Gusting winds and water flooded in. But even combined with the sparks and hisses of steam from within the conn pod, there was enough visibility for them to see Eloah truly face to face. Amber eyes stared into glowing blue orbs the size of a small home.

The connection, whatever it could be called, lasted only a moment before the shockwaves of a few more explosions shook them. Eloah shrieked, its head whipping upwards to the sky, and with its dying breath, it struck at them a final time, its claws making a last attempt at them inside the jaeger.

He couldn't dodge even if he had been able to focus his reflexes, which were more than mildly disabled from the electrocution their brains had just suffered. But one long claw just barely managed to nick at his restraints above, ripping him out of the controls and knocking him across the cockpit.

It all happened in quick succession in Hanji's mind. The panic he had felt right as he saw the sparks fly above him, the pain of being knocked out of the controls… and just as she could manage to process worry in her mind, she was hit with a horrible electrical surge from her Pons.

"Agh! AHH!"

Her hands flew to her head, and with the motion, Recon tried to follow suit, but that only worsened the throbbing sensations in her skull. The jaeger was hers alone to control, and it was damaged.

"Recon? Recon, report!"

"Hanji, are you all right?!"

"Grrraaaaaaaagh!"

With a tremendous effort, she unlocked her helmet and removed it, disabling the Pons and her connection to Recon. Without its pilots, Recon fell limp and began to topple down with the dead kaiju still wrapped around its midsection.

"Recon's lost power!"

"Are they alive?!"

Ignoring all proper safety protocol, she disengaged, stumbling across the cockpit of the conn pod to where Levi is lying, all too still. She unhooked his helmet, trying to blink away tears of worry.

_Oh god, please no. Please, please be all right. _

She gripped his chest piece tight and pulled him up to a sitting position, lurching his expression back to consciousness.

"Ahh!" He hissed and brought his arms up to clutch at her shoulders. "Hanji, Hanji!"

"Levi! Oh, thank god!"

Were it not for their cumbersome pilot suits, she might have crushed him with the force of her embrace, but she couldn't enjoy it for long as he was still hissing and struggling with her, his expression twisted and contorted.

"Levi?"

Metal is groaning all around them, the winds rushing in, and they can feel the floor moving away from its intended horizontal position.

"She's falling!" She cries in a panicked voice.

The conn pod was breached to the outside forces. As soon as the conn pod hit the water, they'd be flooded. She didn't know the extent of Levi's injuries, and she wouldn't be able to pull him back over to their pilot restraints to get him into an escape pod in time. Frantically, her mind ran through her available options. If she kept tight hold of him, she could swim them both out.

They began to slide across the floor as Leviathan fell slowly, and she braced herself for the impact. They would hit the opposite wall of the conn pod first, and she had to make sure Levi was cushioned.

But there was a heavy jerking motion that shook the entire jaeger, and they didn't slide into the opposite wall so much as fly straight into it. She couldn't brace or position themselves properly, so they went flying, backs crashing against the wall, knocking the wind out of them and sending stars wheeling overhead. Mammoth had caught them as they were falling, which had caused the lurching motion. Had they been in their pilot restraints, they might have been fine. As it were… Hanji was pretty sure she had sprained an arm, if it wasn't broken.

She could feel Recon being hauled along, every one of Mammoth's steps sending reverberations through them. Beside her, Levi was giving small gasps and groans.

"Levi? Levi, it's all right. We're alive."

His only response was a stifled groan.

"…Levi?"

She crawled over closer to him, clutching her injured arm close to her body. Levi was lying, mostly immobile. There was a small trail of blood down his face from where he had bitten his lip—from where he was still gnawing—

"Levi!"

With a small whimper, his voice crackled,

"H-Hanji…"

"What is it? Where are you hurt?"

She laid her good hand on his chest, looking hard into his tear-stained eyes. Immediately, he clutched at her fingers, gripping her so tight it hurt, but she said nothing.

"I can't—Hanji… I can't—I can't feel my legs. My legs."

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, so I didn't kill them. But I may have irreparably damaged one instead.


End file.
